The Trump administration has stopped processing some green card applications of immigrants, including approved refugees, to carry out “additional vetting.”
The U.S Citizenship and Immigration Services has instructed officials to temporarily suspend processing green card applicants submitted by immigrants who have already been granted refugee or asylum status as the administration’s hardline stance on immigration continues, CBS News first reported.
In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed it was temporarily pausing the applications in “alignment” with President Donald Trump’s executive order titled “Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats.”
“USCIS is placing a temporary pause on finalizing certain Adjustment of Status applications pending the completion of additional screening and vetting to identify potential fraud, public safety, or national security concerns,” the department said.
The department did not confirm which applications were affected by the freeze or how long it would last. Sources told CBS the applicants affected by the pause were submitted by immigrants granted refugee or asylum status.
Refugees who have been granted asylum in the U.S. are already heavily vetted in the process. Once approved, they must be in the U.S. for one year before they can apply for a green card.
It comes as the administration is aggressively cracking down on screening immigrants, including those already in the U.S. legally.
Trump’s administration is also tabling a proposal that would demand green card applicants already in the U.S. hand over their social media handles. Visa applicants living abroad already have to share their social media handles with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, but the proposal under Trump would expand the policy to those already legally in the country who are applying for permanent residency or seeking asylum.
The agency said the vetting of social media accounts is necessary for “the enhanced identity verification, vetting and national security screening.”
The proposal has been condemned as an attack on free speech after it was opened up to the public for comment.
There are more than 650 comments providing feedback to the immigration agency’s proposal and they are overwhelmingly against.
“This would be a clear violation of the First Amendment and would violate the core value of what it means to be American,” one person commented. “Dissent or disagreement with one’s government does not and should not preclude someone from living freely in this country.”
“As so many have indicated, this is a chilling attempt to intimidate – and a violation of First Amendment,” someone else person wrote.
“Wrongheaded, chilling, authoritarian,” said another.
The agency is collecting feedback from the public on the proposal until May 5.
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